Doretta Frances Morrissey

EAST MADISON – Doretta Frances Morrissey passed away at Woodlands Memory Care in Madison on Sept. 6, 2021, at the age of 91. She was born on Dec. 27, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts to Walter and Fanny (Melendy) Baker, Jr. She attended Quincy schools and married Navy Lt. Commander Robert Comey on July 15, 1950 in N. Middleboro, Massachusetts. Doretta loved being a Naval officer’s wife and enjoyed meeting the expectations of her role. They had five children together. She often told stories of driving from coast to coast with her children to meet her husband returning from deployment or to visit family back home.

After Robert’s passing in 1963, she met Edward Morrissey. They married on May 14, 1965, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and had two children and eventually settled in Milford, Connecticut. Ed and Doretta moved to Norridgewock, Maine, in 1994. Ed passed on Dec. 29, 2019. She was also predeceased by her parents and by her daughter, Jeannine Comey.

She was named after her Aunt Doretta and loved spending time at Aunt Doretta’s camp in New Hampshire as a child. She also spent many weeks of summer at her Grandmother Melendy’s farm in Milford, New Hampshire.

She grew up to become a woman of strong character and conviction who cared for her family first and foremost and taught her children that family is the most important thing. She loved social gatherings with family and friends where she could tell stories and laugh. Everybody loved to hear her laugh.

She loved fashion and followed the latest styles. From her hair and makeup to her shoes and accessories, she dressed herself in the fashion trends of the day even to her last days. She loved beaches and boating and roller skated as a pastime right into middle age. She also knitted, making many items for family and friends over the years. She was an avid reader and an excellent cook and baker. Everyone looked forward to her desserts especially her chocolate cream pie.

She began work as an office clerk for SS Pierce in Boston. At various times in her life, she was a sales clerk, a medical records clerk, an insurance broker, and the manager of a bank branch. Her best job, though, was raising her children. She cared for them throughout her life, helping them with life’s lessons and loving them unconditionally. She always made sure they were okay, and they knew how much she loved them.

She had a strong faith that carried her through her life. She was a Eucharistic minister and a member of the Daughters of Isabella 441. She especially loved belonging to a faith sharing group at Notre Dame de Lourdes Church in Skowhegan for as long as she could.

She is survived by her brother, Walter Baker III and wife Joanne of W. Bridgewater, Massachusetts. She is also survived by her children: Melendy Comey and husband Joe Unser of Shelburne, Vermont; Suzanne (Comey) O’Brien and husband Mike of Norridgewock; Willard Comey and partner Roberta Nestor of West Haven, Connecticut; Peter Comey and partner Pia Saccoccio of East Lyme, Connecticut; Edward Morrissey, Jr. of Milford, Connecticut; Sean Morrissey and wife Elizabeth of Milford, Connecticut; 13 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by several cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Doretta’s family wishes to extend special thanks to the staff at Woodlands Memory Care in Madison and to MaineGeneral Hospice for the compassionate care they provided.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in memory of Doretta on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, at 11 a.m., at Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church in Skowhegan, with Father James L. Nadeau as celebrant. Burial will occur on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, at 10 a.m. at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Section B, 163 Mt. Vernon Road, Augusta.

Arrangements under the direction and care of Dan & Scott’s Cremation & Funeral Service, 445 Waterville Road, Skowhegan ME 04976.